UP Elections 2022 | Final phase of polling begins across 54 seats; all eyes on Varanasi, Azamgarh

Voting begins in Azamgarh, and eight other districts of UP in the 7th and last phase of the state Assembly elections. (Image : ANI)

Fifty-four seats in nine districts of Purvanchal are going to polls as the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election enters its last leg today.

Around 2.06 crore voters will seal the fate for 613 candidates in this last phase of elections.

The 54 seats include eight in Varanasi and 10 in Azamgarh, considered a Samajwadi Party (SP) stronghold. Five of the eight seats of Varanasi district are within the Parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Varanasi.

उत्तर प्रदेश में आज लोकतंत्र के महायज्ञ की पूर्णाहुति का दिन है। सभी मतदाताओं से मेरा आग्रह है कि वे विधानसभा चुनाव के सातवें और आखिरी चरण के मतदान में पूरे जोश-खरोश से भाग लें और वोटिंग का नया रिकॉर्ड बनाएं।

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 7, 2022

The other districts voting today are Mau, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra

READ: UP Elections 2022 | 7 key contests to watch for in last round

The ruling Bharayita Janata Party (BJP), locked in a fierce battle with the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP in these Assembly seats, aims for the biggest slice of this pie with the general elections two years away.

This phase will test the allies of the two rival parties – Apna Dal (Sonelal), the BJP ally led by Union minister Anupriya Patel, and OBC leader Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a former BJP ally now contesting with the SP.

Of the 54 seats, 11 are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and two for the Scheduled Tribes.

The candidates in fray on March 7 include ministers Neelkanth Tiwari, Anil Rajbhar, Ravindra Jaiswal, Girish Yadav and Rama Shankar Singh Patel. Dara Singh Chauhan, who had resigned from the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet and joined the SP, is contesting from Ghosi in Mau district.

#UttarPradeshElections2022 | Voting begins in Azamgarh, for the 7th & last phase of the state Assembly elections.

Visuals from polling booth number 231, Uchh Prathmik Vidyalaya in Narauli pic.twitter.com/wBVUiEik98

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 7, 2022

SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar from Zahoorabad, Dhananjay Singh  from Malhani-Jaunpur as JD(U) candidate and Abbas Ansari, son of gangster- turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, from Mau Sadar seat are other prominent candidates in the final phase.

Also, read : Assembly elections 2022 | Amit Shah, JP Nadda confident of BJP win in all states except Punjab

Once considered an SP stronghold, the region saw the BJP making inroads in 2017 by winning 29 seats. BJP allies Apna Dal won four while SBSP had bagged three seats in 2017. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got six seats and the SP 11.

The high-decibel campaigning for the final phase of UP polls ended on March 5. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Akhilesh Yadav campaigned for the last phase of elections in Varanasi, and adjoining districts.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee was also in Varanasi to campaign for Akhilesh Yadav and his RLD ally Jayant Chaudhary.

Also, read  | UP Polls Phase 7: Modi’s Varanasi Vs Akhilesh’s Azamgarh; big role for small parties in last leg

Today’s phase will mark an end to the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. The voting for 690 Assembly seats across these five states was held in seven phases since February 10.

The results of five state assembly elections will be declared on March 10.

(With agency inputs)